New Beginnings - Keico Fannovel

Chapter 2:Part 1

Keith had no intentions of going home to Cherry. For a second, he was tempted to ask Pico where he was headed to, and if he could tag along, before he remembered how he had first met the guy and that he didn't even know him that well. All he knew was his name and that he had a mean look about him. He shivered, why had Pico even helped him? Why had he even approached him? If he hadn't been thinking about the ginger before, he definitely was now. He grabbed his shoulders and brought his knees up to his chest, he wasn't nearly as cold as he had been previously. How he had suddenly warmed up, he wasn't sure. He wasn't even tired (which was weird, considering how exhausted he had been). Questions swirled around his head, accompanied by those damn silver eyes. He was confused. Confused, confused, confused... and that was it. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't get that small act of kindness Pico had given to him out of his head.

Had he really even deserved to be helped? Why had he even been helped? Why did a stranger seem to care about him more than his own girlfriend? It was supposed to work the other way around... right? Keith lowered his head into his knees, he had no answers for any of the questions he asked. It didn't feel like he had been out long, however he still knew he hadn't been keeping track of time. Should he go on home? Should he risk sleeping at Cherry's place, or should he risk hypothermia here? He could go home... get yelled at (which most times felt worse than being stabbed) and possibly get injured... more... or he could stay here and risk dying in his sleep. Despite these being his only choices, a small voice in the back of his head seemed to whisper, or maybe there's still time. Maybe you can track Pico down and still ask to go with him. Maybe he hasn't gotten that far yet.

No. That wasn't a possibility. Why had he even thought of that? Had he really been so deprived of social contact he was willing to spend an entire night with a stranger? A stranger who he had even seen with blood on him? (It was possible it had been his own blood, yes, but Keith didn't really believe that.) A stranger that sat with him while he cried? A stranger that had taken time out of his own night just to fix Keith's bandages? A stranger who had... helped him? A stranger who had helped him. Pico had helped him. Keith had been denying that Cherry was abusive for months, and suddenly today, after a complete stranger decided to sit and comfort him (no matter how short the interaction was), was he only just starting to believe that... maybe Cherry wasn't too good for him.

His mind went back to the past, when they had first met. He was his usual cocky, smug self. Rebellious and ready to throw hands with anyone who tried to even look at his girlfriend... and she was amazing. She was nice and polite and caring and understanding and loving and loveable... and how did that end? Keith becoming paranoid, hurt, scared, flinching... he almost did nothing without Cherry's permission anymore.

Pico was the first amount of social interaction he had actually gotten with someone in 3 months... other than the concerned stares and pitying head shakes. He let go of his shoulders and look at his hands, he definitely hadn't imagined the interaction with the ginger. He could still feel where Pico had smoothed down the wraps, the sensation warm on his skin, and how neatly the wraps sat on his hands. It had really happened. Keith kept staring at his hands. Desperately looking for ant detail that could prove the entire interaction was fake. That Cherry wasn't as horrible as he thought. That he was just being over dramatic. That someone hadn't helped him. He couldn't even believe that someone would take time out of their day to even bother sitting with him. He started shaking again, his chest felt warm. What was wrong with him? Was he already getting sick? What had Pico done to him?